Township treasurer pleads guilty to embezzlement

The former secretary and treasurer of Paupack Township in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, recently pleaded guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges after being accused of embezzling nearly $80,000 earlier this year, the Wayne Independent reports.

Joann Kelley's misappropriation of township funds was first highlighted by officials who began noticing discrepancies in her deposits last August, resulting in an internal investigation, the News Eagle reports. Following this, an accounting firm based in nearby Carbondale was brought in to conduct an accounts payable audit. The AP audit found that Kelley wrote extra payroll checks to herself, forged the signature of the township's board of supervisors, failed to make deposits, and doctored records to hide her activities. She embezzled more than $76,500 between 2003 and 2011.

"Paupack – and Wayne County – taxpayers have the right to expect better from those entrusted to carry out the work of local government," said District Attorney Michael Lehutsky after the arraignment, as quoted by the Independent.